


can't sleep

by sebsterianart



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Lance is pining, Langst, M/M, and lonely, lance is a mess, so's shiro, this whole thing's a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 10:06:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10965036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebsterianart/pseuds/sebsterianart
Summary: lance cant sleep bc of Super Nice dreams abt his familyshiro cant sleep bc of Super Bad nightmaresNice.





	can't sleep

Quietness had overtaken the castle as the blue paladin slowly crept to the what-would-be-a living room, rubbing his eyes and looking around. It didn't matter what time it was; the ship looked all the same no matter how bright or dark it would be on earth.  
  
Lance sighed, shoulders slumped as he worked his way over to the seating area and haphazardly threw himself onto the couch, arm over his eyes as he recalled what had woken him up.  
  
-  
  
 ** _In the dream, he was back home, with his family.  
_**  
**_They had just gotten over the shock of his arrival; the tears dried by now and replaced with a settled silence.  
_**  
 ** _Everyone gathered on the floor in a comfortable huddle around him with the smell of perfume and his Mamá's cooking drifting throughout the living space._**  
 ** _  
The quiet sounds of sniffling calmed and fell into relieved sighs and tired grins instead; all directed towards him and g_** ** _od, he had missed them so much. Any emotion he felt was poured into the group huddle, Lance pulling everyone together into a tight hug with his lanky arms._**  
 ** _  
And then,_ **  
  
they were gone.   
  
And he was awake, left alone with his picture of his family tucked loosely against his chest.   
  
  
It was just a dream.  
  
  
It had felt so real- they had been right in front of him and it was- all just a **_dream!_**  
  
  
His face scrunched underneath the flesh of his arm, making his other limb join in with covering his face as his chest heaved.  
  
It wasn't fair.  
  
  
  
  
The soft pull of a door against the air broke him from his thoughts, a shuddering breath leaving him as he halfheartedly peeked an eye through his arms.  
  
"Lance?"  
  
  
 ** _Shiro ????  
_**  
  
Lance practically choked as he quickly sat up, stifling the cough rising in his throat as he hastily pushed his shirt collar over his face, trying to remove any evidence of his crying. "H-hey, buddy-!" His voice cracked at the end, making him cringe.  
  
Shiro's eyebrows furrowed slightly before he sighed, bringing a hand up to rub at his tired face. "What are you doing awake?"   
  
The younger male's gaze dropped to the ground, the boy stammering slightly until lifting his head to point a finger at the other. "W-well- I could ask the same question to you! What are **_you_** doing awake??"  
  
Shiro seemed to stiffen at that, dropping his hand from his face and casting his gaze away from the boy momentarily. His eyes flickered down to his artificial arm; hand clenching into a loose fist before his posture gave into gravity, caving in defeat.  
  
He was supposed to be a leader and now Lance was seeing him like this- exhausted from no sleep and paranoid with nightmares.  
  
  
He glanced back towards the awaiting Lance with the still-shaky-breaths, standing a moment in silence before hesitantly giving in, gesturing lightly towards the seat.   
  
  
"Mind if I join you?"  
  
  
Lance blinked before giving a nod, scooting to one end to make room for the male; the cushions of the couch sinking deeply with the weight of him. Though Lance didn't mind; he could use the presence of someone other than himself for once.  
  
He shifted awkwardly, feet fidgeting as he gathered his knees to his chest while waiting for Shiro to speak.  
  
  
Though; it never came.  
  
  
The heavily-draped silence almost worse than being alone.  
  
  
Lance kept his gaze at Shiro before he cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting in place to prop himself up more as he took in a breath. "Okay," He sighed as he spoke. "I guess I'll start: I'm scared I'm never going to see my family again. And it,,shows." His posture once again drooped, his head resting on his knees as he stared into the fabric of his pajamas.  
  
"I can't stop thinking about them, Shiro,,,,What if there's something going on that I don't know about? What if Sophia graduated, and I wasn't there to give her a "congrats"? What if Emilio is still getting bullied, and I'm not there to help him? What if Papá finished working on that old car with someone else? What if-"  
  
"Lance-"  
  
"No, Shiro! What if-they're **_dead_**?? I wouldn't know! I don't know anything about them anymore; I'm not there!" Throughout the one-sided conversation, Lance's sniveling had progressed to the point to where he was full on sobbing, letting go of his knees to instead cover his face, curling towards the floor.  
  
  
Shiro stared in shock at the display, not knowing what to do. Though he knew the boy'd been homesick- he'd never seen him like this before.   
  
After a few seconds, he uncertainly raised his hand before placing it on Lance's back, attempting to relax his tensed posture before speaking.  
  
"..I'm sure they're not dead, Lance..we haven't been gone for  ** _that_** long-"  
  
Lance shook his head, making Shiro pause and shut his lips tight.  
  
"Pidge said- that time is different,,here,,," He removed his hands from his face to stare down blankly at the floor, eyes puffy and vision blurred. The room once again fell quiet as he steadied his breathing, taking a moment to compose himself.  
  
Shiro pursed his lips and removed his hand, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared over the room in thought. He tensed slightly as he slowly filled his lungs, trying to relax before breaking the ice that'd formed through the silence of the ship.  
  
  
"....I'm scared that the stuff I don't remember is going to hurt you." His gaze descended to his galra arm, the fingers flexing slightly. "I don't know what they did to me, when I was in **_there_**.....They could've done anything." Shiro's eyes ran over the smooth seams and paneling. "What if they put some sort of a control in this? They could make me do anything, even-" He bit his bottom lip, eyes wrinkling as his face crumbled.   
"Even,, **** _kill_ ,,,everyone,," The paladin forced his arm out of sight, glancing at the floor before meeting Lance's eyes. "What if that happened?..What if they did that? You wouldn't be able to do anything, Lance....no one would." He swallowed thickly, stomach sick at the thought. It wasn't an unreasonable fear; his arm was designed to kill.  
  
  
Lance searched over Shiro's face, eyes widened slightly. He hadn't really thought about that before; how scared Shiro must feel. He always seemed so composed,,  
  
  
Now he was the one to put a hand on Shiro's back, making the older male break from his worrying to gaze up at him.  
  
  
"..I guess we're both pretty screwed, aren't we?" He gave a sad smile as Shiro sighed.  
  
  
"I guess so."  
  
  
They both sat quietly contemplating before Lance perked up some. "Besides, anyways- who said you'd be able to kill me?"  
  
Shiro wrinkled his brows.  
  
"I mean, as the team's sharpshooter-" A gentle smirk pulled across his face as he tried to lighten the mood. Sure, he was still sad about his family- but now that Shiro was sad too, he didn't have time for that.  
  
  
"Lance,,,"  
  
  
The boy shut his eyes as he held his hands up, his voice raising an octave as he playfully boasted. "Hey, I'm just sayin'! It'd take a lot to put this guy down!" He jabbed a thumb to his puffed chest before grinning at Shiro, who gave an exasperated snort as his shoulders relaxed.  
  
Lance beamed at that, proud that he could calm him down. "But seriously, Shiro,,,,I don't think you have that in you. I mean, I'm pretty sure they've tried stuff like that before on you; and we're still here. So,,don't worry about it, okay?"  
  
Shiro hesitated, searching over Lance's turned-soft expression before giving a small smile. ",,Thank you, Lance."  
  
The blue-eyed paladin waved it off. "No prob." He sunk down into the couch comfortably, mind taken off of the previous events. "But hey, I think we just bonded." Lance gestured his head towards the other. "Maybe we should not sleep more often, 'ey?"  
  
Shiro scoffed lightly under his breath at the offer, standing up and beginning to walk back to his room. "Goodnight, Lance."  
  
Lance paused as he watched the male leave, sighing lightly as he once again gathered his knees to his chest and planted his face in them.  
  
  
"Goodnight, Shiro.."

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo its Ya Boy
> 
> if u liked this be sure to express it bc i need Validation(tm)
> 
> heres my tumblr if u wanna talk abt gay stuff and voltron: http://sebsterianart.tumblr.com/
> 
> catch u on the flipside


End file.
